The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Can A Failed Mega-Mall Un-Fail?

Officials in New Jersey are planning to revive a stalled megamall project called Xanadu. <em>The New York Times</em> asks a panel of experts whether the plan should move forward.

May 5 - The New York Times

One Year Down, 3,000 Homes Demolished

Officials in Detroit have demolished 3,000 buildings over the course of the last year, a goal set by Mayor Dave Bing.

May 5 - Associated Press

Transmission is Key for Wind Energy From the Sea

Building wind farms in the ocean is an ideal way to generate electricity, but it's not so easy to get that energy back to shore efficiently. This article looks as a transmission project that could address that issue.

May 5 - Popular Science

Addressing Preservation and its Problems in San Francisco

As officials in San Francisco debate the city's historic preservation policies, this column looks back at some of the ways the city has successfully preserved its past and some of the ways the process is broken.

May 5 - San Francisco Chronicle

The Search for Modest Market Housing in Vancouver

In Vancouver, where rents and housing prices are moving beyond the reach of ordinary citizens, the search for proven ways to provide modest market housing is on.

May 5 - The Dependent Magazine


A Transportation Census That Really Counts

New York City has created its own version of the census to track transportation in the city, a job it says the federal government's counting system does poorly.

May 4 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

Dagwood Should Be Fat, Sick and Impoverished

By all logic, the comic strip character Dagwood should be fat, sick and impoverished due to his gluttonous eating, sedentary habits, and automobile-dependent lifestyle. Blondie should worry about his high blood pressure and clogged arteries [...]

May 4 - Todd Litman


Art Commission Sends Artists Back to the Drawing Board

The capper to the San Pablo Avenue Streetscape Project is to be a public art project that would line the boulevard. But the art commission in charge has rejected the artists' plans as "poorly done" and wants them to come back with a new concept.

May 4 - Patch

Does the U.S. Need More Highways?

<em>National Journal</em> asks its panel of experts whether the U.S. needs more highways, and if they should or shouldn't be a major part of transportation funding in the near future.

May 4 - National Journal

New Haitian President Faces Major Rebuilding Challenges

Michel Martelly is the newly elected president of Haiti. He faces the large challenge of rebuilding much of the country's population center, which was devastated by an earthquake in January 2010.

May 4 - Architectural Record

Environmentalists and New Urbanists Battle Over Proposed Development

Plans to redevelop former salt ponds in the San Francisco Bay Area have pitted environmentalists against New Urbanists.

May 4 - Grist

FEATURE

Why I Decided To Go To Planning School

Planetizen intern Victor Negrete explains how he made the choice to attend planning school, and the thought process he went through deciding which schools to apply for, and ultimately to attend.

May 4 - Victor Negrete

Electric Roads for Electric Cars

One of the problems with switching to electric cars is the range of the vehicles per charge. But what if the roads themselves provided a constant charge, like a third rail?

May 4 - Txchnologist (GE)

Funding Issues Keep American Tranposrtation Infrastructure Down

This article from <em>The Economist</em> explains why America's transportation system is failing, and how the federal government's infrastructure funding mechanisms are contributing to the decline.

May 4 - The Economist

Other Cities Look at L.A.'s Transit Funding Plan

Los Angeles has taxed itself to raise money for transit projects, and now officials want to borrow against those future earnings to speed up projects. This article wonders if that's a model other cities can and should follow.

May 4 - The Minn Post

How Chinese Megacities Avoid Problems

Megacities are quickly on the rise in China. But as this post from <em>New Geography</em> argues, they've managed to avoid problems currently faced by other megacities in developing nations.

May 4 - New Geography

Can California Solve Its Budget Deficit and Save Redevelopment?

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and a group of local stakeholders is circulating a proposal that would help the state of California and generate revenue for local redevelopment. Is it too late for a win-win in California?

May 4 - The Planning Report

Landscape Architecture's Obscurity

L.A.'s landscape architects are relatively obscure compared to their architect counterparts. Is this obscurity the reason landscape architecture isn't as protected as architecture?

May 3 - Los Angeles Times

The Chaos of Los Angeles

Conor Friedersdorf writes that Los Angeles is made up by 88 different municipalities, 10 million residents and a lot of unincorporated territory, making it difficult to decide who controls what.

May 3 - The Atlantic

Data Shows Internet Not Ruining Bricks-and-Mortar Retail

Counter-intuitively, Natl. Real Estate Investor says that sales in physical stores is supported by increases in broadband, and therefore the internet seems to enhance retail sales in shops.

May 3 - National Real Estate Investor

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